r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 10d ago

Where are the homeless supposed to go?

Cities have been cracking down on homeless people so they can’t have encampments or stay on sidewalks. At the same time usually the shelters are full. So those who are unable to get into a shelter, where are they supposed to go?

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u/brettcb 10d ago

Alternatively, have they tried not being homeless?

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u/proudbutnotarrogant 10d ago

"It's not my problem that you have no money for food. You should have thought of that before becoming peasants."

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u/JPBillingsgate 10d ago

The chronically homeless, which is the homeless population that are problematic for cities, are not homeless because they have no money for food. It is mental illness, substance abuse, or a combination of both.

The second, larger, homeless population is much, much less of a problem and these are people who are much more able to seek and receive help. We should never stop being generous with these people as governments or as individuals.

For the first group, not only would it be hugely expensive to try and treat these people en masse, we would also have to be able to involuntarily commit many of them, which is something that is not legal in most cases now.

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u/bikinibeard 9d ago

In the end, we would save money with mandatory treatment. Think about how much we already spend on police, ERs, ICUs and jails. And then there’s the non-profits. While some do good work, many are just fly by nights with a good PR person or grant writer. San Francisco spent a billion dollars and most if it went to over 800 NGOs. Most of these NGOs don’t know the other NGOs exist, they don’t work together but in a blind parallel (if they work at all; there’s a lit of grift). SF estimated to spend between $200-400,000 a year PER homeless person. Not much to show for it.